The Makings of a Great Defender

A person who knows about hard work will work hard for others. This appears to be the mantra by which personal injury lawyer and managing partner of law firm Williams Kherkher, John Eddie Williams Jr., abides by. The son and grandson of union longshoremen, John grew up with a strong work ethic. This is something he brought with him when he entered Baylor University on a full athletic scholarship, and he graduated first with a business degree as cum laude, and as lawyer at the top of his class.

His mother approved of John’s decision to go on to law school even though he had a good future in the corporate world. It was a decision that would pay him back in spades, although it took years of hard work before he finally realized his dream: to be an advocate for people who needed help.

Williams was always passionate about the law, but what he learned as he clerked for big corporations in the early years is that the “little guy” often had no voice. He used his passion for the law to make those responsible accountable for their actions and he wasn’t afraid to take on the big ones. He proved this when he took on the tobacco companies in 1995 on behalf of the state of Texas, which was suing them for health care costs. Tobacco companies were notorious for being slippery eels when it came to civil litigation, but Williams and his co-counselors hammered at the convoluted case until it began to unravel for the tobacco industry. The final verdict was a huge victory for Texas with a $17.3 billion settlement, and a landmark case for the legal representatives.

Williams is proud of the number of people he has helped with the support of the law firm’s staff and lawyers. Personal injury cases are tough nuts to crack, but Williams has shown time and again that he isn’t afraid of a challenge. He wins, too. Williams has an impressive track record for his involvement of most of the major pharmaceutical and personal injury cases in the US, including cases of asbestos exposure.